Role fit for a Queen

The Queen would be quite right not to bother searching for a new racing manager - it's hard to imagine anyone better qualified for the role than herself.

Following the death of the previous incumbent, Lord Carnarvon, last September after 32 years of service, her Majesty is reportedly not seeking a replacement.

Instead, the Queen herself and her existing racing advisers will map out campaigns for the 23 horses she currently has in training. It is realistically hoped one of those horses, a three-year-old colt called Right Approach, could win her first-ever Derby.

Although her three trainers - Sir Michael Stoute, Richard Hannon and Roger Charlton - have not been informed of any new arrangements, none would doubt the Queen's ability to oversee the careers of her own horses.

"She's very knowledgeable not only about racing and breeding, but horses in general," said Charlton, who trains seven of the Queen's horses at Beckhampton stables in Marlborough.

"She plans the matings of her horses, knows the mares, their families and their achievements. It makes my job as trainer much easier when an owner has as much of an in-depth understanding as does the Queen."

Her former trainer Ian Balding has gone further. "The Queen is an expert and a brilliant horsewoman. She could have trained," he claimed.

But on a day-to-day basis, little will change if the Queen does come to manage her own string. In Charlton's case, communication with Lord Carnarvon was restricted to reports on the health of Her Majesty's horses every three weeks during quiet periods. If there was a problem or a horse was due to race, Charlton would consult with him and the Queen herself "as much as necessary".

"It was helpful to ring Lord Carnarvon to discuss plans for the Queen's horses," he said. "He would put forward the Queen's and his view. Occasionally he asked me to run a horse somewhere else because the Queen was going to that race meeting or to avoid a clash with another of her horses trained elsewhere.

"I would keep the Queen informed just like any owner. If one of her horses was ill I'd talk to her about it. I would tell Lord Carnarvon first, but would also then discuss with the Queen."

The Queen has always employed an expert team at the Royal Stud at Sandringham, including John Warren - world-renowned bloodstock agent and husband to Lord Carnarvon's daughter, Lady Carolyn Warren. Charlton expects this strong backbone to safeguard continuity.

"Managing an owner's string is all about communication and coordination. It's unlikely that will be left to her trainers," said Charlton. "But there's no reason why arrangements for the Queen's horses won't carry on largely as they did before. There are a lot of knowledgeable people involved with her racing operation."

Some argue the Queen's racing interests may function better without Lord Carnarvon, who died aged 77 of a heart attack.

He was reviled for his insensitive sacking of Royal trainer Major Dick Hern in 1988. He informed Hern's wife of the termination of their 25-year tenure at the Queen's West Ilsley stables while the Major, who had broken his neck in a hunting accident, was recovering in hospital from two heart operations.

History will also criticise Lord Carnarvon for unimaginative matings of the royal string and selling Height Of Fashion to Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum in 1982.

Selling the filly for almost ? 1million made good business sense, although buying West Ilsley with the proceeds arguably was not. But Lord Carnarvon could not have known she would become one of Europe's most influential broodmares. Besides, he had recourse to her bloodline through her parents at Sandringham.

The Queen visits Beckhampton and her other trainers' yards once a year, about now when the new turf Flat season is beginning. Attention will focus mostly this season on Right Approach, which resides at Stoute's Freemason Lodge stables in Newmarket.

This colt ran twice as a juvenile, winning on his Newmarket debut last August and then, in a race not run to suit, failing by a fast-receding short head to concede 7lb to smart Expected Bonus at Kempton the next month. Four-time champion jockey Kieren Fallon has long regarded him as a top Derby prospect.

Victory in the premier classic at Epsom on 8 June would be cause for celebration in the Golden Jubilee year. The nearest she has come to seeing her scarlet-and-purple silks carried to Derby victory was when Aureole finished second to Pinza in the coronation year of 1953.